Hope Mission displayed an impressive turn of foot as she charged down the center of the turf course to capture the $150,000 Ellis Park Turf Stakes by one length on Sunday, Aug. 24.
The four-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, who captured her first Stakes victory, improved her record to 2-2-0 in eight starts, with the winner's share of the purse increasing her earnings to $151,840.
A field of eight older fillies and mares went to the post in the mile-and-a-sixteenth turf contest, with Hope Mission sent off as the favorite. Breaking alertly under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, Hope Mission was settled into third behind Rose Palace and Next Up as she saved ground along the inside rail.
Rose Palace continued to set a leisurely pace up front, completing a half mile in :50.22 as Hope Mission continued to track from third. Next Up was the first to take a crack at Rose Palace, ranging up alongside the longtime leader on the far turn. Next Up and Rose Palace matched strides entering the homestretch as Hope Mission swung out off the rail three-wide for a clear run at the leaders.
The Godolphin homebred then hit another gear and took off, quickly accelerating past the leading duo to take command, crossing the wire a length better than Next Up. Rose Palace held on for third.
Bred in Kentucky by her owner, Hope Mission is out of Arabian Hope (Distorted Humor), winner of the G3 International Istanbul Trophy and third in the G1 Falmouth Stakes. Arabian Hope is a half-sister to multiple Graded Stakes winner, Cezanne (Curlin), and to Stakes winner Counterforce (Smart Strike), and hails from the female family of Champions and G1-winners Rags to Riches, Man of Iron and Archangelo.
Medaglia d’Oro is in the middle of yet another tremendous year at stud, led by a pair of standout three-year-old fillies – Good Cheer, winner of the G1 Kentucky Oaks and Nitrogen, winner of the G1 Alabama. He is also represented by one of the best older turf horses in the country, Spirit of St Louis, winner of both the G1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic and G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational in 2025.
